Interesting conversation the other day with Philip Rosedale of Linden Labs, creator of the Second Life virtual world. Most fascinating bit is how they think about their relationship with customers: they aren’t selling subscriptions, they are leasing real estate, unimproved land in a virtual world. Others can improve that real estate and sell it to others. And it’s not just real-estate. The users build other artifacts, and sell them to each other. The top seller is making six figures. A few days after I met with Philip, the NY Times did a story on the growing trend towards money making in virtual worlds.
